When I first started out, it ticked all the boxes. And I jumped in feet first. Great, I thought. I’ve started. This is easy. And so began an interest in Internet Marketing, or Information Publishing as some people describe it.

That feeling lasted for about a week.

Then, suddenly, I was swamped. There were SOOooo many things to learn, things to do to get up and running before I even got to square zero, new words, no definitions, new actions on the computer, jumping off from what felt like the top board, when I should be at the shallow end of the pool, sites I’d never heard of and now needed to be able to navigate around. Yes life on the control panel side is different from the happy browser clicking her way around the internet…. With only a few hours a couple of evenings a week, the course zoomed out ahead of me. And me, I was still at the starting post working out which way to face, staring at glitches and stopped by the hitches, confused by the stitches it took to keep it together.

Suddenly a year went by. I didn’t quite make it to the end of the course. But I didn’t give up on it, dipped in and out of it, slipped around and about in it, picked up bits of it….always came back to it…maybe one day…

But today was a good day. I got back to my blog, poshed up a post, published it promptly. Did some work on the course. Wow, that wasn’t so tough.

Found some later lessons, took a sneak peak, didn’t collapse in a heap.

Gosh, now that makes more sense. I can see where I am going and how to get there. And now I can see how I can use it and make it my own.

It’s exciting and looks like good fun. I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow and do some more.

There are so many internet marketing websites and “gurus” out there that it’s hard to know where to start, who to trust, who to go to.

For some people, it’s the very real fear of being scammed. Even a small amount of money can be a lot to the person spending it and it can add up if it happens more than once.

Then there is the ever-present risk of what happens to your personal details after you’ve  entered your name and email address, or your card or other important ID details on a page. It’s been known to happen that a person started to fill in a form with email adress and name, then changed their mind and left the page before they pressed submit or to confirm those details, came out of the page totally, only to find that their  details had already been captured and the site was using them.  Next thing they started receiving mailings and offers from the site which they hadn’t actually joined.

Then there are the spammy emails that suddenly start appearing in your inbox, and you wonder how they got your details and who maybe sold on your details…

So, is there somewhere you CAN go that you can rely on? Somewhere you can find out  find out who other people have learned is trustworthy?  Which products are worth buying?

There is one place I go when I want to find out more about a program or product and see reviews by people who have bought the product or worked with the person. It’ s IM Report Card.com

The reviews are by real people, and the sites and products are graded on a simple A+, A-, B+, B-, C+, C- scale with the reason why the reviewer thought they were good or not.

You can make up your own mind based on people’s real experience with the product being reviewed or the marketer who created it. The reviews are independent and I’ve found it very helpful and useful, especially when I first got on line. It helped me sort out who to listen to and where to spend my hard earned cash for good value and who to leave alone.

There are other interesting features and sections. Time spent here is well worth it.

IM Report Card.com  Check it out here and find out for yourself.

Had a strange phenomenon recently. My usually happy laptop started behaving strangely –lots of annoying pop-ups and misdirecting me to limited sites, some of them what you could call a bit dodgy, defintely places I didn’t want to go to. The first search result page was mostly lot of sponsored ads with maybe only the bottom entry on the page being an actual search result. What on earth was going on?

I noticed a change in my browser to Searchnu which I hadn’t set up. The other thing was a frequent error page with the words searchnu/ followed by a number. The numbers can vary. There is another form that is searchqu

It seems that searchnu is a browser hijacker often downloaded when the person agrees to  the terms and conditions of something they want to download without paying close attention to the small print. Problem is that because it was downloaded “voluntarily” by the user, it doesn’t get picked up by usual security programs as a virus or malware when you run a scan so it sits there undetected and continues to operate annoyingly. What I found out was it’s often downloaded along with iLivid or Google Chrome. It is also apparently connected with Ask Jeeves web site.

That is only the beginning of the story — some forms of searchnu are more serious, such as searchnu/421–  which can start to steal your details all the way up to identity theft.  Obviously, it needs to be dealt with quickly. The longer it remains on your computer the more damage it can create. Unfortunately it installs itself in the registry so some searchnu programs need to be tackled more strenuously than just deleting an item from your programs folder.

So, time for some homework on google.

The tools I found to handle it were: Hitman Pro from SurfRight followed by some other programs

Downloads – SurfRight
Smitfraudfix How to use SmitFraudFix – Geeks to Go Forums
Combofix A guide and tutorial on using ComboFix
Malwarebyte Antimalware Malwarebytes Anti-Malware – Download.com

After I ran the above, then I installed something to protect my browser.

Browser Protect: Browser Hijack Protection for free – BrowserProtect.org

And then an additional security program was added from Avast:

avast! | Download Free Antivirus Software or Internet Security

Combofix is a very powerful program and best used under supervision by someone who is knowledgeable about computers. Not one to mess around with.

The problem appears to be fixed now and my computer is now running smoothly. It took some time but it was worth it.

On Wednesday, we had another live training webinar with John Thorhill as members of his Partnership to Success Program.

John is just back from a sailing vacation on the Norfolk Broads – and that was the first point of his lesson by actual demonstration. While he’d been away, his business continued to operate to promote and sell products and make income. He showed us the value of automating as many aspects of your business as possible and the power it generates. He also discovered the value of the connections he’s made and the importance of co0operation and teamwork.

While John was away, I was still able to use his support desk, to handle an issue I had. His support desk is abley manned by one of his former students, so she knows how his program work. She is a product of his training who has also developed her own internet businesses.  Providing good support to your customers is vital if you want to continue a successful business that delivers good value.  That, in turn, develops  good word of mouth. Having someone trustworthy to turn this over to is essential. So for us on John’s program was an insight in to the mindset that goes with success and a live demonstration of how to do things the right way.

Just out of curiosity, I looked up another internet marketer whose list I used to be on. He also launched a training program. I’m not going to name names, but I had my reservations so I never took him up on it at the time. Well, looking into now, there were plenty of comments on a forum about lack of support: emails not answered, poor contact details, lack of follow up leading to requests for refunds. All on the first page of Google! Not even hard to find. Just goes to show how important your support is and how quickly it can impact on your business.  Poor word of mouth spread like like a wild fire

It speaks well for John’s approach, his programs and services that he has loyal students who continue to work with him and want to remain in contact with him. Obviously they learned information of value and weren’t disappointed with his training. I like that he doesn’t disconnect from the students of his coaching programs when their time is up. He empowers them. He doesn’t criticise his students and or refer to them negatively.

Just like tennis great, Andy Murray benefited from his coaching with Ivan Lendl, and won two Olympic medals and a Grand Slam this summer, Partnership to Success is an opportunity for mentoring from someone who is a winner in the internet marketing game. Next time John offers the Partnership to Success, take the opportunity. You won’t regret it.

One of the things I find useful about my D9 Hosting is the facility to host unlimited domains on my account. It presents an opportunity to set up a number of minisites for flipping later. It also makes it easier to work on more than one income stream and area of interest knowing that all my hosting needs are taken care of in one location at one time, with one billing and with a company that I can rely on and trust.

Let’s say you have an interest in the health field, or cooking, and weight loss. Very popular subjects but not quite the same as Internet Marketing. To put it on your main domain risks confusion and inconsistency. Some skinny, city-living, geeky internet marketer happy with pizza take away and a soft drink at every meal won’t be inspired by your favourite low calorie recipe or a rave about 10 health benefits of raw honey from the local bee farm.  Another person with a passion for photography and mega expertise about cameras can go full blast in great detail about the fine differences between special features of different ranges and give real advice and useful insight to others, while enjoying their passion– and gain affiliate income at the same time.

Being able to set up a number domains and blogs is one way of testing different income streams to find those that deliver something that people need and want and are interesting, satisfying and remunerative to work on. Tweaking them as you go, without having to make a big outlay each time you set up a new one, is definitely the way to go and opens the door to more opportunities for success.

What do you think? What other areas interest you?

Look forward to hearing from you.

Aileen

After a glorious spectacle of British life through the centuries, we are now full swing into the Olympics.

A high note of the Opening Ceremony was the introduction of the latest Bond girl when the Queen, accompanied to the Games by James Bond, parachuted in to the stadium to delighted applause. A humorous touch that caught the eye of the world as billions watched the Opening Ceremony. How she managed to keep a dead pan straight face as she made her entrance was a gold medal performance all of its own.

An inspiring message to all comes out of the Games, a message of endurance, focus, persistence, dedication, fair play and good sportmanship. Playing the game is important, not just the winning. When there is so much noise and misery pushed in our faces day after day by the press, forwarding the message of those who would not see people well and happy, it is wonderful to see so many individuals put forward their best selves, respect and admire their competitors and their achievements, and celebrate victory as they overcome the obstacles to their success.

We couldn’t compete with Beijing with its dramatic Opening Ceremony to the last Olympic Games, so we didn’t. We had our own uniquely British presentation and we certainly did ourselves proud on the world stage with a real showcase presentation about British life, our country, our outstanding contributions to the world and the eccentric British take on life. For a small country, we surely pack a big punch of influence. It makes me be proud to be British

Good to see Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web was included, without whom we would not have this opportunity as Internet Marketers to create our own businesses and unique way of life.

Nice to think of the World Wide Web as “Made in Britain!”

The first lesson I’ve learned is the importance of intention and focus.

What started out with high purpose and huge enthusiasm quickly morphed into a back page message somewhere in the depths of my inbox. Before I knew it, Week 6 of John’s training program had just popped into my inbox. Week 6! I was barely started into Week 1. Where did that come from? And I thought I was moving, making progress, feeling good… Well, not exactly. No, not really. Not at all, in fact. Face the fact.

The first real lesson. It’s not one on the checklist John sends out every week with his lessons to his students on his Partnership to Success program. But this is fundamental stuff, make it or break it on anything, not just internet marketing, really the first barrier to progress and success..

I took a deep breath. Then I had to take a real good look. What happened? All that busyness I’d been busy on, all those little and big things that came up, and “important” things I’d needed to do. You know. Feed the cat, walk the dog, call my friend, go to the dentist, child’s school-do, the bank, the shops, go to work, pay the bills…All added up to time lost that could never be spent again. You could live a whole life like that.

Well it was time to sort out what my intention was and put some focus on that. Ignore everything else. Sweep it to one side for now.

One step in 6 weeks became 6 steps in one week. What a difference.

A real sense of achievement followed as I actually got things done, and pride too. Two lessons learned, I’d say.

This is my first post to this new blog and I’m very excited. It’s spring. The sun is shining. It’s a brand new start and a brand new adventure. What could be a better way to start the year –with interest and excitement, full of hope for a better future, an opportunity to learn how to do new things, work at something different and move forward to a better life? Walk with me and share the adventure. And become inspired yourself to try.

Recently, I joined John Thornhill’s Partnership to Success training program. I am amazed and delighted with what I found when I accessed the site he set up for this program. The program is delivered in a series of weekly lessons, each one consisting of several short steps, to be done in sequence. The data is presented in simple, easy-to-follow steps as easy as joining up the dots. And if you are totally new to this, it takes away so much complexity. You don’t have to know what all the buttons on the page are in order to work out which is the one you need to press. John’s already done all the thinking for you. That surely cuts through a lot of confusion and learning curve. As well, he’s already worked out who to go to for what and that simplifies many things  

John presents the information for each lesson in several formats. You can choose to study the lesson as a short online video lasting only a few minutes, as an MP4 file or PDF document. He’s also set it up for iPad, iPhone and iPod users. So you can take your pick as to when, where and how you work through the program.

There’s a wealth of other bonuses that come with the program. To say I am delighted and amazed is an understatement. Between the member’s forum and access to much of John’s other material there is a true abundance of material offered on this, John’s Partnership to Success program. For example you have access to all his ebooks and even materials launched by other students on his program, many of whom have gone on to become successful internet marketers and operate successful businesses online.  You are welcome to join us and take part in this exciting adventure.

Aileen Pollock